In the Final Seconds
by DoveFeathersAndSnowFlurries
Summary: Tragedy strikes Ziva. Will she be saved in time? read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone!!! Hope you like it!!! Review and let me know what you think!!**

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It was lunch time and Ziva, Tony, and McGee, were all eating lunch at an outdoor café in DC. Usually they just order in lunch, but for some reason Gibbs was in a particularly bad mood today and the two special agents and mossad officer were looking for an excuse to get out of the office, even if it was just for an hour. So, when Gibbs told them to go out and get lunch, they jumped at the chance they got. It was a gorgeous day out, seventy degrees and sunny. It made sitting outside even nicer.

"Ziva, are you going to finish that?" Tony said pointing to Ziva's fries as he stuffed a double bacon burger in his mouth.

"Yes Tony, that is why I ordered it!" Ziva said grimacing as she watched Tony eat…_if that is what you could call it._

"C'mon Tony, that's just gross." McGee stated.

Tony smiled, showing most of the half-chewed burger in his mouth.

"Just go back to eating your little salad there Probie."

Ziva gave Tony a disgusted look then checked the time on her cell phone, remembering the parking meter.

"Time has run by, I am going to walk over to put more money in the meter." Ziva said as she pushed in her chair to get up.

"Fly Ziva." McGee stated.

"I can't fly McGee." Ziva gave McGee a strange look.

"No Zee-vah, time does not run by it flies." Tony clarified smiling at his confused partner.

"Oh." She simply stated before she walked away.

"You know McGeek," Tony said as he watched Ziva turn the corner of the building, reaching for one of her fries, "Ziva was doing much better with her English before she went back to Israel."

"Yeah, I've noticed. And Ziva said she doesn't want you eating her fries. If she finds out she's going to kill you."

"Hey, what she doesn't know can't hurt me." Tony said with grin.

"Yeah but don't you think she'll…" McGee was cut off by a screeching of tires and the sound of a loud crash coming from around the corner.

McGee and Tony looked at each other as they jumped up from their seats, running to sight of the noise. When they turned the corner, they saw a red Sedan slammed into their up side down car. The Sedan was smoking from the engine, and a near by fire hydrant was spraying water all over the scene. Tony looked at the crushed parking meter next to their car and remembered Ziva.

"McGee, where's Ziva?!" Tony said not even trying to hide the panic in his voice.

McGee's face turned white.

"ZIVA!!!" The two seemed to yell simultaneously as they ran over to the car. Tony spotted long curly brown hair sticking up from under the overturned vehicle. He knelt down and looked under the car, afraid of what he might find, with McGee joining him. He saw a crumpled up body of a mossad officer that was barely recognizable at the time. Her bloodied face and torso were pressed against the concrete, while her legs were trapped under the overturned roof of the car.

"Ziva…" Tony whispered, almost as if he talked to loud his words would injure her even more.

"Tony," McGee said in a slightly higher pitched voice. "is she…"

Just then they heard the body under the car give a low, barely audible moan, and Ziva's eyes fluttered open. She quickly closed them again, wincing in pain.

"Ziva, hang on, we're going to get you out of there! McGee, call an ambulance!!"

McGee ripped out his cell phone out of his pocket, stood up, quickly dialed 911, while Tony tried to comfort Ziva. Ziva started to try to squirm out and let out a loud howl of pain.

"Don't move Ziva," Tony warned. "Just wait we'll have you out soon I promise!"

Tony reached his hand under the top of the car and gently stroked her bloodied arm.

"Tony," Ziva gasped, "I'm so tired."

Ziva eyes began to close.

"Ziva, you have to stay awake! McGee, where is that ambulance!?!"

"It's coming Tony," McGee said as he knelt bad down, "how is she doing?"

"I am not dead McGee, you can ask me." Ziva said in between gasps.

Tony and McGee smiled at each other with a little relief at Ziva's comment, showing she was still there with them.

"Sorry," McGee apologized, "You hanging in there?"

Ziva opened her mouth to say something, but her eyes quickly closed, and her mind entered a world of darkness.

"Ziva!" Tony said trying to wake her up, but there was no effect, she was out cold.

"Tony look…" McGee said as he pointed to the growing pool of blood surrounding the mossad officer.

Sirens of police cars and ambulances came out of nowhere. McGee jumped up to go bring the paramedic over, while Tony stayed eyes fixed on his hurting partner, afraid that if he looked, never mind walked away, she would slip into a place of no return.

"Over Here!!" McGee yelled as he waved his arms to get the paramedics attention. Four jumped out of an ambulance, two rushing toward him, the other two toward the red Sudan. McGee stood there for a second wondering why they had turned toward the other car…_that's right, the driver_. McGee had forgotten all about him. He hoped he was ok.

As the paramedic raced over, McGee pointed to where Tony was, half laying- half sitting on the ground.

"She's trapped under the car." McGee said realizing he had just pointed out the obvious.

"How is she?" One of the paramedics asked

"She just passed out. And it looks like she's lost a lot of blood." Tony stated worriedly looking up at the paramedic. The paramedic knelt down next to Tony to get a look at Ziva.

"Hey Miss, can you hear me? What's your name honey?" The paramedic said trying to get Ziva to respond in any way. He noted the amount of blood surrounding her.

He turned to the other paramedic and said, "Hey Lauren, we got to get her out of there, she's going to bleed out in a few minutes."

"She's pretty far under, we can't safely pull her out." she responded as she looked under the top of the hood of the car to check on Ziva, "We don't have time to wait for the fire department either."

The male paramedic looked at Ziva then his colleague.

"I'm going to be honest Lau, I don't know what we can do."

Tony and McGee looked at each other, worry apparent on both their faces. The women they spend almost everyday of their work lives with, the women who has become a part of their somewhat dysfunctional family at NCIS, was going to die.

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**So, what do all you fabulous people think out there?? Ok, so by tomorrow night I hope to have the next chapter done, but I need at least ten reviews before I up date, just so I know it's worth continuing…so do your part and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone!!! Thanks to all those who reviewed!!! I love you all ;) Oh and in case any of you were wondering, this takes place somewhere in season 6... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and please review!!**

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Tony stood there, trying to take in the scene. Ziva, his partner of three years, someone he had grown unimaginably close to over those three years, was trapped and dying, and the people who were supposed to help her, couldn't do anything to save her in time. He felt helpless, and in some way, he felt like he betrayed her. As her partner, he supposed to protect her, watch her back. Now she was dying and there was nothing he could do, nothing anyone could do. Tony fought back the tears that were forming in his eyes as he watched Ziva slowly dying.

"No…" he said suddenly, "NO! We have to do something!! C'mon aren't you guys supposed to save people, not give them an early death sentence!!"

"Special Agent," the male paramedic said trying to explain the situation, "what do you suppose we do?! We can't just pull her out, she trapped under a car! And she doesn't have the time to wait for the fire department to get here!"

McGee's eyes widen, and a smile a small smile formed on his face.

"I have an idea." He said revealing his revelation, "Don't most ambulances carry around a tire jack, in case of a flat tire? I think we could use that to lift the car up just enough to get Ziva out!"

Tony looked at McGee, some hope back in his eyes. The two paramedics looked at each other.

"I think it could work Lau." Said the male paramedic to the other.

The female paramedic took off sprinting to the back of the ambulance searching for the tire jack. The other one ran to get a few of the police officers to come and help.

Tony looked back under the top of the car at Ziva.

"Hear that Zeeh, we are getting you outa here!"

The two paramedic arrived back simultaneously with the tire jack and three police officers. The paramedic handed the tire jack to McGee, and he quickly place it under the hood of the car and with the help of Tony, started to crank it up; the three police officers aided the jack by pulling up at the sides of the car, and the two paramedics bent down to try and see if there was enough room to pull Ziva out.

"A little higher!" Yelled the paramedic as she tried to crawl in the small space to reach for Ziva.

As they pushed the jack to it's highest limit, the two paramedic slipped under the car. One put his arms around Ziva's waist, carefully pulling her limp body out, while the other paramedic held her head and neck, to lessen the chance of further injury. When they finally got her out, they placed her down on the ground and checked her neck for a pulse. The two special agents and three police offers left the car and surrounded Ziva.

"We got a pulse!" The female paramedic yelled with a little bit of excitement as she felt as small shallow beat.

Hearing this, other paramedic ran with a police officer to go grab a stretcher.

Tony and McGee knelt down on either side of the mossad oficer. Tony wrapped both his hands around Ziva's left. It was bloodied, cold, the skin blue in color, and limp.

"Ziva," He said with a shaky voice, "you're gonna be ok"

"Outa the way!!!!" The paramedic said as he placed the stretcher next to Ziva, forcing Tony to release her hand and step to the side. McGee, got up to stand next to Tony.

The paramedics and police officers each grabbed a section of the mossad officer's body and with a _one, two, three_, lifted her onto the stretcher. They strapped her head and body in place and quickly carried her to the awaiting ambulance. Tony and McGee followed them hoping to be able to ride along. They stood outside the ambulance, and watched as monitors were hooked up to their partner to monitor her vitals, inconsistent beeping coming from each monitor

"Sorry, no room in here guys." said the female paramedic apologetically.

Tony and McGee heard a loud lasting piercing sound coming from one the monitors.

"She flat lined!" yelled one of the paramedics

The ambulance doors closed in the two special agent's faces, the last thing them seeing was a long straight horizontal red line on a heart monitor.

The two stood there for a couple seconds frozen as they watched the ambulance lights and siren turn on, and quickly drive away. The sound of McGee's cell phone brought them out of their trance. McGee dug in his pocket and looked at the caller id. _Gibbs_. He looked at Tony and took a deep breath as he answered the phone.

"Hey boss." He said in a completely monotone voice trying to hide the worry.

"MCGEE!!!" Gibbs yelled through the phone. "I told you three to take an hour! That's an HOUR! Not three hours!! And tell David to answer her phone, that's why she has one!! I've been calling her strait for the last two hours. All three of you better have a good excuse for all this!!!!!"

"Boss…."

"Yes McGee?!" Gibbs said annoyed.

"Ziva…something's happened"

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**So what does everyone think? Please feel free to leave suggestions! I really appreciate it, especially when I get stuck. Just one question, no one actually wants to see Ziva die, right?? Please let me know, and I will update the next chapter as soon as I get 10 more reviews, you do you're part, I'll do mine! ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

**I can't believe I got ten reviews in less then 14 hours!! You all have made me really happy! :) So happy Easter/Passover/Spring!! Whatever you celebrate (or don't celebrate) I hope you have a good day! Thanks again to all those who reviewed!! You're awesome!!! Anyway, last chapter, enjoy!!!**

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Gibbs, Tony, and McGee sat in the waiting room of Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C. It had been two hours since Tony and McGee had last seen Ziva, two hours since she was rushed into the hospital with virtually no pulse, and two hours of endless worrying not knowing if their beloved partner was alive or dead.

Tony sat there with his head in his hands, hunched forward. _Why did this happen to her? What did she do to deserve this? __What happens if she doesn't make it, or didn't make it, or_… this waiting was slowly tearing him a part from the inside out. Against his will, Tony started imagining life without Ziva. He would never banter back and forth with her in the bull pen again. He would never correct another one of her attempts to use American idioms again. He would never feel that satisfaction of making her smile again. Most importantly, he would never get the chance to say what needed to be said. He would never get to tell Ziva how much he liked having her as his partner, never tell her how much he appreciated her, and never tell her how he felt about, even though he wasn't really sure what that was. Ever since they became partners, he was always confused about exactly how he felt about her. What do you call the feeling of loyalty that goes beyond all means, or the feeling of irrational jealousy when another man stared at even if it was just a second too long, or, the feeling of pure pleasure just being in her company. He wasn't familiar with these feelings, and wasn't sure if he ever experienced them before. What are they called? Is it really just one big feeling with many sides to it? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he felt this was towards Ziva David, and now, wasn't sure if he would ever be able to tell her.

"Relax Tony, we don't know David's condition yet." Gibbs voice pulled Tony out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I know Boss." Tony said not looking up afraid his boss would see the weakness in his eyes.

"Excuse me, are you here for Miss David?" The voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Tony looked up to see a pretty, petite, Asian women dressed in scrubs standing over him, McGee and Gibbs. She was giving them the most genuinely sympathetic look Tony had ever seen. _This is it. We are going to find out she didn't make it._

"Yes, how is she?" Gibbs said as he stood up.

"I'm Dr. Qin." she said softly seeming to ignore the question. "Are any of you Ms. David's biological realities?"

"No. I'm her boss. We're with NCIS." Gibbs stated with authority as he showed the obviously intimidated Dr. Qin his badge, "Now, I'd like to know how she is."

"Miss David is in critical condition right now. She has lost almost four pints of blood, has multiple fractures to the bones in her legs, a severe concussion, and has a couple deep gashes on her upper body. She's lucky to be alive. If she was brought in any later then she was, she would have bled out. It quit literally came down to the final seconds."

Tony took a deep breath. _She was alive. At least she was alive_.

"Can we go up and see her?" McGee asked.

"Yes but one at a time." said Dr. Qin, "she is conscious, and even with medication, is still in pain, so we don't want to cause unneeded stress by having her room filled with people."

"I'll be right back." Gibbs said to Tony and McGee electing himself to go first. He followed the doctor through two sliding doors and disappeared around the corner.

Tony and McGee just looked at each other for a second, not really sure what to say right now. McGee took a deep breathe, running his hand through his hair, over the top of his head.

"You ok?" McGee said noticing Tony's pale features and red eyes.

"Yeah, I'm great McGee," Tony snapped sarcastically, "my partner is in a hospital, in critical condition fighting for her life, and in severe pain, I'm just great McGee! Never better actually!!"

"Sorry." McGee stated sheepishly looking down at his feet.

"No, It's ok Probie. I'm sorry."

They both went back in an awkward silence until Gibbs came back. He returned through the sliding doors with an expressionless face.

"How does she look?" Tony said trying to find some hint in Gibb's face.

"Seen her look better." Gibbs said in a monotone voice. Gibb's cell phone rang. He quickly answered it, having a no more than three word conversation, consisting of _what you got?_, and hug up the phone.

"McGee," Gibbs said in his usual authoritive voice, " Abby needs you back at the lab. She wants to go over the codes from the general's computer with you. Let's go"

McGee and Tony had forgotten that they were in the middle of a case.

"But Boss, I didn't get to see Ziva yet!" McGee said in an almost childish manner.

Gibbs just looked at him.

"You can come back with Abby later." Gibbs said, meant as an order.

"Yeah Boss. Does Abby know yet?"

"No," Gibbs responded, "Nobody knows yet. Dinozzo!"

Gibb's voice started Tony causing him to jump up in his seat out of his trance.

"I'm not leaving Boss." Tony stated, gulping at what would be Gibb's response.

"I know." He said to Tony's surprise. "Stay here and keep Ziva company."

With that, Gibbs turned around signaling for McGee to follow. Both men quickly walked out the hospital entrance doors, leaving Tony alone in the waiting room.

Tony stood up, taking in a deep breath and walked over to where he saw Dr. Qin standing.

"Excuse me," He started, "where is Ziva David's room?"

"Follow me." she said with a small sweet smile'

Tony followed the doctor through the sliding door, turning left, leading to a long white hallway with several doors on each side. She stopped in front of the door to room 121 and grabbed the door knob. She turned it slowly letting Tony in the room, and carefully shut the door behind him, with her herself never entering the room.

Tony looked around. The walls where a light blue color, with beeping machines scattered throughout the room. In the center was a small bed with a chair next to it, and on the bed, was an unrecognizable sleeping Ziva David. He black and blued face was covered in scratches and there was a huge stitched up gash across the top of her forehead. Across her face was an oxygen mask. Her legs were both heavily wrapped in bandages and casting materials. She looked small, fragile, and hurting. _Gibbs was right, she defiantly had looked better. _

He walked over to the chair and sat down staring at the face of the mossad officer he knew. Unsure of what to do, he began to talk to her.

"He Ziva." He whispered. "You ok?"

He took a deep breath. _What do I say? Can she hear me? Probably not. _

"I'm really sorry this happened to you…um I really don't know what to say. You have to be ok Zee. You have to. Please… I was sitting out in the waiting room and I was thinking how different life would be without you… not in a good way of course… actually it was horrible. Boring."

He let out a sort of nervous chuckle. He looked at the machines noticing a slower than normal, but steady heartbeat. Her reached out to hold her scrapped hand.

"C'mon Zeevah, you still have a whole life to live! I need you to hold on for m(e)…everyone. Imagine everyone at NCIS without you. Who would keep me in line? Not McGee, he's barley able to handle himself! And I don't think Abby can handle another death, like Kate or Jenny…"

Tony's body was starting to betray him, giving into his emotions as a few thin tears started running down his cheek.

"And Ziva…there is still so much I have to tell you… I care about you Zee. More then you know…and one day, I really hope to tell you this…"

Tony let go of Ziva's head to put his head in his hands. He felt something grab his wrist gently. He looked up startled to find his partner looking at him, head cocked to the side, her hand on his wrist.

"Hey," Tony said with a little excitement, "you hanging in there?" he reached over and brushed a stray piece of hair away from Ziva's face.

"Yes." She said softly and weakly through the oxygen mask.

"How long have you been awake?" Tony asked realizing what he had just revealed to his thought-to-be sleeping partner.

"Long enough." she said.

"Did you hear what I said." This was more of a statement then a question.

His heart quickened a little bit.

"Yes."

To Tony's surprise, Ziva reached out, grabbing his shirt to pull him close to her lips. He removed the oxygen mask just long enough to place a small, sweet, gently kiss on his lips. Tony looked into her eyes as he picked up her hand and place a kiss on the top.

The two sat there for a little while, until, Ziva fell back asleep, just enjoying each other's company. One glad the other was alive, and the other glad to know a certain feeling was mutual.

As Tony sat there stroking the top of Ziva head, watching her sleep, he promised himself that he was going to make this work. He was determined to play off this feeling he wasn't entirely familiar with. He loved this women in front of him, even if it took a potential tragedy to make him realize it.

End

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**I know the ending is really bad, but I was stuck and didn't want to let this story go. Thanks for all who took the time to read it, and my love to those who reviewed! ;) Hope you enjoyed!!!**


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